Decision makers

Cancel pedophile Woody Allen's upcoming series

On January 13, 2015, Amazon.com Inc. announced it was partnering with Academy Award-winning filmmaker Woody Allen to write and direct his first television series for the company's Prime Instant Video streaming service.

On February 1, 2014, The New York Times published an open letter from Allen's adoptive daughter Dylan Farrow recounting the hideous sexual abuse she endured from her father at the age of seven years old and younger.

[Warning: the following paragraph contains graphic details.]

Farrow's letter detailed routine inappropriate behavior, including Allen forcing her to "get in bed with him under the sheets when he was in his underwear" and "plac[ing] his head in [her] naked lap and [proceeding to] breathe in and breathe out." She also detailed the time he raped her in the attic of her own home. All of these acts were hidden from her mother Mia Farrow, until, at the age of seven (following her rape), Dylan naively asked if Mia's father had ever done similar things to her when she was a child, just to inquire if this was "normal."

It wasn't normal. And it's not acceptable.

Allen was never prosecuted for his crimes. Following the NYT's publication of Farrow's open letter, on February 7 that same newspaper published a charismatic rebuttal by Allen denying any wrongdoing. His letter was intended to clear up the facts. The "facts" that Allen presented have since mostly been disproved.

Amazon is the world's largest online retailer. It is ubiquitous and unavoidable. By associating with a known pedophile – not only doing business with him but celebrating him – Amazon is sending the wrong message to the world and to its customers.

We, the undersigned, are appealing to Amazon's sense of decency. We are asking Amazon to honor the voices and lives of women, children, and all victims of sexual abuse. We want Amazon to cancel their proposed series written and directed by pedophile Woody Allen.

This is not Amazon's first dalliance with pedophilia and pedophiles. In 2010 the company defended its right to sell a guide for pedophiles in its Kindle ebook store. "Let me assure you that Amazon.com does not support or promote hatred or criminal acts," the retailer said when reached for comment. "We do support the right of every individual to make their own purchasing decisions." However, following a nationwide call to action and resulting boycott of the company, the book was subsequently removed.

This time, it's not about free speech or purchasing decisions. This is about Amazon itself publicly (and proudly) announcing its support and collaboration with a known pedophile. This is a vile and despicable decision, and we are demanding that Amazon reverse its partnership with Allen.

Those of us who are capable of escaping Amazon's herculean grasp on the online retail market vow to boycott the company until this decision is reversed. No more purchases. No more subscriptions. No more credit cards.

In her open letter, Dylan Farrow describes the harrowing ordeal of having Hollywood and the world at large turn a blind eye to the horrors she endured. "Most found it easier to accept the ambiguity, to say, 'who can say what happened,' to pretend that nothing was wrong. Actors praised him at awards shows. Networks put him on TV. Critics put him in magazines. Each time I saw my abuser’s face – on a poster, on a t-shirt, on television – I could only hide my panic until I found a place to be alone and fall apart."

She goes on, "For so long, Woody Allen’s acceptance silenced me. It felt like a personal rebuke, like the awards and accolades were a way to tell me to shut up and go away. But the survivors of sexual abuse who have reached out to me – to support me and to share their fears of coming forward, of being called a liar, of being told their memories aren’t their memories – have given me a reason to not be silent, if only so others know that they don’t have to be silent either."

We believe Dylan and other victims of sexual abuse. We support them. And we won't be silent.

Sincerely,The Undersigned

This petition was delivered to:

Amazon.com

CEO, AmazonJeff Bezos

Letter to

Amazon.com

CEO, AmazonJeff Bezos

On January 13, 2015, Amazon.com Inc. announced it was partnering with Academy Award-winning filmmaker Woody Allen to write and direct his first television series for the company's Prime Instant Video streaming service.

On February 1, 2014, The New York Times published an open letter from Allen's adoptive daughter Dylan Farrow recounting the hideous sexual abuse she endured from her father at the age of seven years old and younger.

[Warning: the following paragraph contains graphic details.]

Farrow's letter detailed routine inappropriate behavior, including Allen forcing her to "get in bed with him under the sheets when he was in his underwear" and "plac[ing] his head in [her] naked lap and [proceeding to] breathe in and breathe out." She also detailed the time he raped her in the attic of her own home. All of these acts were hidden from her mother Mia Farrow, until, at the age of seven (following her rape), Dylan naively asked if Mia's father had ever done similar things to her when she was a child, just to inquire if this was "normal."

It wasn't normal. And it's not acceptable.

Allen was never prosecuted for his crimes. Following the NYT's publication of Farrow's open letter, on February 7 that same newspaper published a charismatic rebuttal by Allen denying any wrongdoing. His letter was intended to clear up the facts. The "facts" that Allen presented have since mostly been disproved.

Amazon is the world's largest online retailer. It is ubiquitous and unavoidable. By associating with a known pedophile – not only doing business with him but celebrating him – Amazon is sending the wrong message to the world and to its customers.

We, the undersigned, are appealing to Amazon's sense of decency. We are asking Amazon to honor the voices and lives of women, children, and all victims of sexual abuse. We want Amazon to cancel their proposed series written and directed by pedophile Woody Allen.

This is not Amazon's first dalliance with pedophilia and pedophiles. In 2010 the company defended its right to sell a guide for pedophiles in its Kindle ebook store. "Let me assure you that Amazon.com does not support or promote hatred or criminal acts," the retailer said when reached for comment. "We do support the right of every individual to make their own purchasing decisions." However, following a nationwide call to action and resulting boycott of the company, the book was subsequently removed.

This time, it's not about free speech or purchasing decisions. This is about Amazon itself publicly (and proudly) announcing its support and collaboration with a known pedophile. This is a vile and despicable decision, and we are demanding that Amazon reverse its partnership with Allen.

Those of us who are capable of escaping Amazon's herculean grasp on the online retail market vow to boycott the company until this decision is reversed. No more purchases. No more subscriptions. No more credit cards.

In her open letter, Dylan Farrow describes the harrowing ordeal of having Hollywood and the world at large turn a blind eye to the horrors she endured. "Most found it easier to accept the ambiguity, to say, 'who can say what happened,' to pretend that nothing was wrong. Actors praised him at awards shows. Networks put him on TV. Critics put him in magazines. Each time I saw my abuser’s face – on a poster, on a t-shirt, on television – I could only hide my panic until I found a place to be alone and fall apart."

She goes on, "For so long, Woody Allen’s acceptance silenced me. It felt like a personal rebuke, like the awards and accolades were a way to tell me to shut up and go away. But the survivors of sexual abuse who have reached out to me – to support me and to share their fears of coming forward, of being called a liar, of being told their memories aren’t their memories – have given me a reason to not be silent, if only so others know that they don’t have to be silent either."

We believe Dylan and other victims of sexual abuse. We support them. And we won't be silent.